Injuries cloud Patriots' season

A winless squad jogging off the field at halftime with a two-goal lead should have been full of players with smiling faces.
That wasn’t the case for the Jay County High School girls soccer team.
Instead, the Patriot players were shrouded with expressions of concern. Amber Huelskamp trotted not to the bench, but rather to check on fallen teammate Alex Loy where she was being attending to by trainer Rita Bollenbacher.
Jay County had a 2-1 lead late in the opening half when a pass went to Loy deep in South Adams territory. The senior tracked the ball down inside the 18-yard box and was trying to send the ball back toward the middle when she took a shove from a Starfire defender.
As the sideline official called the foul, Loy went tumbling out of bounds, landed awkwardly and was left clutching her right knee as she cried out in pain.
The ensuing penalty kick, converted by sophomore Gabbie Mann, turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Patriots celebrated their first victory eight games into the season. But there were mixed emotions following the breakthrough win because of the injury to the senior captain, who hobbled across the field on crutches to celebrate with her teammates.
It’s been that kind of season for Jay County.
“It seems like when we’re … having a great game, that’s when we lose a key person,” said coach Abby Champ. “We get one back, and then we lose one right away. It’s just one thing after another and it’s frustrating …”
The entire year has been injury-plagued for the Patriots, who never had returning goalie Brooke Reynard on the field because of a knee injury. Catherine Dunn, one of two JCHS players who scored 10 goals a year ago, went down with a knee injury in the first half of the opening game and has yet to return.
Emma Laux and Stormi Canterbury each went out with concussions in Thursday’s loss to Oak Hill. Lacy Chowning and Cydney Huey are both playing while wearing casts, the former for broken knuckles and the latter for a broken finger.
Several other players, including Maddie Bailey and Sarah Newton, have been hobbled by nagging injuries at times this season.
And Loy’s injury turned out to be the most severe of them all as it was diagnosed Monday as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee that will likely end her high school athletic career.
“I thought I was going to cry,” said Loy’s classmate Ericka Reynolds of the injury.
“I teared up,” added Huelskamp, another senior.
The injuries have had an impact on the field, where the Patriots took nearly four weeks to pick up their first victory.
JCHS has struggled to score, getting shut out in four straight games against Heritage, Huntington North, Marion and Norwell. They have just seven goals in eight games.
It hasn’t been easy for a team that had won double-digit games in each of the previous two seasons.
“We’ve been frustrated,” said Huelskamp. “We just try to keep working hard. Hopefully it goes up from here.”
And there are signs that it could.
The Patriots, despite their battered roster, could easily be a .500 squad. Three of their games have ended in ties, and another was a 2-1 loss to Oak Hill.
So with seven games still remaining, Jay County is trying to keep a positive outlook.
“They’ve got to have fun,” said Champ. “That’s kind of our focus right now. I think today you saw them have fun, and then all the pieces fell together. …
“I think they’re all trying to stay positive for each other. … I think the seniors are doing a good job of that.”
In an effort to keep spirits up, Jay County has tried to remember the goal it set at the beginning of the season — winning the sectional title. The Patriots want to leave the difficulties of the first half of the season in the rearview mirror and use Saturday’s win, no matter how bittersweet, to propel them on to a better second half and a chance to achieve that goal come tournament time.
Reynolds summarized the mindset as she strolled back to the bench alongside Bailey and Huelskamp.
“I’m just looking up,” she said.

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